Super Effective! Part 1: Ace in the hole
by PrinceKat
Summary: First segment of the "Super Effective!" PMD trilogy. Arrow is terrified by almost everything in her new environment, but she has a rather reliable (if not reluctant) partner: Apollo. The two look like they would make a terrible pair, but...?
1. Chapter 1

**We're in for the long haul now, folks. I laugh every time I remember the name I thought of for the series. Also, now that it's vacation time, I'll finally have the time to upload all my sketches onto my tumblr. Huzzah!  
**

* * *

_Oh... where am I?_

_...Am I dreaming?_

_I must be, that couldn't have been real..._

_Too bad..._

_Oh... I'm getting so sleepy..._

. . .

A young Torchic stomps his way into the forest, muttering all kinds of complaints_**. How DARE those bastards think that I can't make a rescue team on my own! Looking down on me, just because I'm younger than them...! I'll show them!**_

In his blind rage, he failed to see the body lying in the grass, and tripped right over it, smashing his head into the dirt.

He gets up, and runs his hand through his ponytail, trying to get out all the dirt. "For the love of Arceus...! Do you KNOW how long it's going to take me to get out all this dirt?! Would it have killed you to let out a little warning for people coming towards you?!"

Hearing no response, he turns to the culprit... only to see them lying face first into the grass. From what he could tell, it was a Psyduck. _**Geez, no wonder this idiot didn't say anything.**_

He HATES Psyducks. They **never **understand anything you tell them! He once spent three hours trying to make his friend's father (who is a Psyduck) remember his NAME. That was the last time he ever spoke to that friend ever again.

Anyway, he doesn't have any good feelings about this encounter, but upon a closer look, he notices that this Psyduck in particular doesn't seem to be doing anything at all. Are they sleeping, or what?

"HEY! Wake up! Give me an apology, you asshole!" He shook the body, which didn't seem to give any sign of consciousness.

_...I hear a voice... is it the one from before?_

"Geez, what are you, a log?! Get the fuck up!" He really just wants to kick the body and leave, but something is telling him that he needs to stay there and keep on trying.

_...No, this one sounds... different. I wonder who it is._

He sees a small bit of movement coming from the Psyduck, and backs away. Even though he's definitely angry at the stupid thing, even HE knows that you shouldn't piss of a Psyduck. They **do** have psychic powers, after all.

"Err...Hey, you. Wake up." The body stirs, and up sits the little girl. She yawns, and rubs her eyes. To the boy's surprise, the Psyduck's eyes are bi-colored. One is a black abyss, and the other one is a soft candy blue. _**That's weird. I've never seen a Psyduck with those colored eyes before. Kind of pretty, actually...**_

The voice of the girl brought him back, "...Wh-where am I?"

"We're in the forest. I, uh... found you passed out here? Anyway, it's good that you finally came to." _**Why am I being nice to this stranger? **_

"O-oh, you found me here? Th-thank you!" The girl's eyes teared up, "You're really nice! Can I have your name, p-please?"

He raised an eyebrow, but complied. "I'm Apollo. It's... nice to meet you, I guess."

"Apollo?" _That sounds rather familiar...?_

"Is there something wrong with it?" Apollo narrowed his eyes at the girl. It was so typical for people to make fun of his name. His mother just HAD to try and be original...

"N-no! I-I was just thinking...! I-it's a nice name." The jittery nature of the girl sitting on the ground in front of him was starting to get on Apollo's nerves.

"...Well? Who are you? I'm absolutely positive I've never seen you around here before."

"O-oh, I live in these woods... Did you get lost? Sh-should I help you get back to Azalea town?"

Apollo stared at the stranger in front of him. _**What the hell is she talking about? Azalea Town is one of those human villages, right?**_

"Why would I want to go to that human infested place?" This stunned the little girl.

"B-but won't your parents get worried? A-and what are you talking about? Aren't you human too?"

"What the hell are _you _talking about? Neither of us are human!"

"Wh-what!? I-I am too human...!" _Is this the so called 'bullying'?_

Now Apollo was confused as fuck. "What the fucking hell is wrong with you? You're a Psyduck, I can tell from every angle!"

The girl's eyes widened, and she raised a hand to her face. It was slightly tanner than it was before, and she was wearing a weird, long, yellow raincoat-like outfit. She clasps her hands on top of her head, and freaks out when she feels the hats that Psyduck are known for wearing.

_I-It's true...! I've turned into a Psyduck!_ She sniffed, rapidly getting more and more scared. _How did this happen? I don't remember anything._

Apollo took a few uncertain steps away from the seemingly unstable Psyduck. "Uh... You're... weird. Your name? I asked for your name."

The girl looked up at him, rubbing the tears out of her eyes before they fell. "O-oh, I'm sorry! M-my name is Arrow."

Apollo blinked. _**Seriously? Is she kidding?**_ "...Okay. Your name is Arrow?"

Arrow nods, confirming Apollo's suspicions. His body starts lightly shaking, and he suddenly just keels over, laughing his ass off.

"G-Geez, and I thought _**my**_ name was bad! Your parents named you after the human's prehistoric weapons!"

Arrow watched Apollo roll around in the grass hysterically, not knowing what to say. She's never really had an opportunity to talk to anybody (that she can recall, anyway), so she's absolutely thrilled to see Apollo interacting with her, even if it's just because he's making fun of her.

Luckily, Arrow's impending awkwardness is saved by a shout, and the sound of frantic flapping.

"Somebody! Somebody, please! Help me!" Apollo instantly stops rolling around, and sits up straight, looking around for the voice. After a few moments, the flapping gets louder, and a Butterfree flies up to the two of them. Apollo has to grab her arm to get her to stop.

"Hey, what's wrong?" _**Is this what I think it is...?**_

"Oh, it's horrible! My little Caterpie fell into a cavern! My poor baby!" The woman broke out into heavy sobs.

Arrow's eyes widened considerably, "O-oh my! That's... how?!"

"A huge fissure opened up in the ground, and since my son doesn't have wings like me, he fell in! He's much too young to crawl out by himself, so I tried to retrieve him. However, when I went in to get my precious baby, other Pokémon suddenly started attacking me!" Even Apollo was taken back by that.

"Other Pokémon attacked you?! They must have been enraged by the sudden fissure, and quickly lost their control." _**So it's even beginning to happen here?... That's perfect! I mean, I feel bad for this lady, but this might help me show those jerks a thing or two!**_

"I think so too..." Butterfree sniffed, "I'm not strong enough to fend off those wild Pokémon... what will become of my baby? Oh, what am I to do?! Oh dear... oh dear..." The lady returned to her frantic flying in a circle, mumbling to herself.

Apollo turned his head towards Arrow, who looked absolutely shell shocked. _I-I've never heard of any fissures suddenly opening up...! Sh-should I go warn the villagers?! U-Um... um... what do I do!?_

"Hey, snap out of it!" Apollo flicked her upside the head, making her yelp. "This sounds serious, we have to go help!"

"W-what?" Without waiting for a proper response, Apollo dragged her off deeper into Tiny Woods.


	2. Chapter 2

They finally came to the entrance of an opening in the ground. Arrow started trembling at the sight. She didn't know what it was, but it didn't give her a good feeling. _W-Was this always here?!_

"Wh-what is that?" Apollo looked at her, wondering if she was serious.

"It's a dungeon, obviously! Sheesh, where have you been?" And with that, he forcefully dragged poor Arrow into the dungeon.

* * *

The second they entered, they came across a Wurmple, which was crawling around aimlessly.

"O-oh, it's so cute...!" Arrow started to inch towards it carefully, trying not to scare it. "H-hello, I'm Arrow. D-do you want to be friends, maybe?"

The Wurmple sneered at her, and responded by trying to stab her in the face with its horn. Luckily, Apollo, who was previously just watching her stupid actions, yanked her out of the way just in time. He dragged his claws across the Wurmple's face, making the Wurmple cry out, and slump onto the ground, unconscious. Arrow was about to thank him for saving her, but Apollo snapped at her first.

"WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!? DID YOU NOT SEE THE BLOODLUST IN ITS EYES?!" Arrow flinched at the harsh tone in his voice, as well as the fact that she was being yelled at.

"B-but it looked so cute..." Apollo shook her viciously.

"No, it looked MURDEROUS!" He shrieked, yelling until Arrow started breathing hysterically.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry! S-sorry! I-I d-didn't k-know!" Looking at the blubbering girl in front of him, Apollo knew that he had gone way too far. He let go of Arrow, and started awkwardly patting her shoulder.

"...H-hey, it's okay, alright? Just don't try talking to every Pokémon you see in here, okay?" Arrow sniffed and nodded. The two of them continued walking on.

* * *

Soon enough, they stumble upon shiny yellow circles with a "P" indented in it. Arrow peers at it, and tilts her head. _I've never seen this before..._ "What's this, Apollo?"

Apollo looks over her shoulder, wondering what she's inquiring about. He promptly smacks his forehead when he sees what it is. _**Did I manage to pick up the dumbest shitlord in the forest?**_

"That's MONEY."

"...O-Oh. S-So, what do I do with it?" She nudged it carefully with her foot.

"You pick it up, like every other normal person would?" Arrow picked it up and put it in one of her raincoat's pockets.

They walked around for a little while, with Apollo knocking out everyone they came across, until a Pidgey came flying out of a hidden crevice, ready to tear out some eyes. Unfortunately for it, the Pidgey's sudden action scared the life out of Arrow, who then swiped at it whilst screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Eek!" The body of the Pidgey smacked against the wall, and slumped to the ground. Apollo looked like a mixture between impressed that she actually hit something, and surprised that she actually did it.

"...Uh, good job. You actually hit something." Apollo reached out to pat her shoulder or something, but was surprised (not really) when Arrow suddenly burst into tears.

"...O-oh no! I-I KILLED HIM?! I'm a MURDERER!? I s-should turn myself in...!" Apollo looked at her with disbelief. _**How stupid is this girl?**_

He smacked her upside the head to get her attention, "You only knocked him out. He's fine, let's go. We've got a little kid to help out. We'll deal with your postmortems later."

Arrow sniffed, and clung to his dress as they continued in deeper into the cavern.

* * *

It took awhile, since Arrow had them stop every time they found something she hadn't seen before (much to Apollo's frustration), but they finally reached the bottom floor of the cavern. Of course, lying at the very end was a little boy with his lime green hair in pigtails.

"Waaaah...! M-Mommy... Where are you?" The soft cries of the little boy caught Arrow's attention, and she skipped forward ahead of Apollo (despite his protests to 'stay still for one god damn moment').

"I-It's okay, little guy! We're here to bring you back to your mother." Arrow picked up little Caterpie, and they all left.

. . .

Miss Butterfree was so happy she was in tears when Arrow and Apollo came into view; she immediately relieved Arrow of baby-carrying duty (much to Arrow's relief).

"My baby! My baby's safe...! I-I'm sorry, I don't know how I could ever be able to properly thank you..."

Apollo grinned, "That's okay, it's been pretty dangerous lately with all these sudden quakes and fissures. It's just great to find your little boy unharmed."

Miss Butterfree was quite impressed by the (fake) gentleman that Apollo appeared to be. "Please, may I at least have the names of the duo that saved my son?"

Apollo jutted his thumb at himself, "I'm Apollo, and..." He looked at Arrow, who was just silently fidgeting with the bottom of her raincoat, "this is Arrow."

Caterpie looked up at Arrow with shiny baby eyes, "...Cool!"

Arrow jumped a little, surprised at the sudden compliment. _He's... staring at me adoringly... I-It's kind of embarrassing... but, this doesn't feel too bad... It's like I'm a hero from the story books! _

Caterpie enveloped Arrow in a death hug, leaving Apollo in the dust. "Thank you! Miss Arrow (and Apollo)!"

As Apollo stood off to the side, just observing Arrow nervously accepting Caterpie's generous praises, Miss Butterfree approached him, arms laden with various berries.

"I know this isn't nearly enough to thank you, but it is a token of our appreciation, so please, accept it." She gently placed the various berries into Apollo's arms, and gave him a little bow. "Thank you ever so much. Goodbye."

Miss Butterfree gently pried her son off of Arrow, and flew off into the sunset. After they were well enough gone, Apollo turned to a flushed Arrow. Ignoring that, Apollo went on to discuss his main goal.

"Hey, Arrow." Arrow looked up at him, signaling that he had her attention. "Thanks for helping out there, you... did pretty well."

"Anyway... what are you going to do now? Got any plans?"

Arrow turned her eyes to the ground, shuffling her feet around. While they had been coming back to the little clearing, Arrow had become increasingly aware of the fact that they were no longer in her little woods that she had grown up in. Of course, that means that her house will not be anywhere, no matter how hard she looks.

Apollo watched Arrow's face get sadder and sadder, and decided to continue on before she started crying again. He didn't really feel like being the indirect cause of her hysterical tears again.

"Listen, Arrow. If you don't have a place to stay, you should come with me. I might have a temporary solution to your problem." He took her hand, and led her out of the woods.

* * *

After a few hours of walking, they finally came to an even bigger clearing, where three paths came together. At the center of the clearing was a nice little house.

Apollo gestured towards the house with his thumb. "Well, this is the place. Take a look."

Arrow turned her head up to see better underneath the rim of her ducky hat. _O-oh my...!_

The house looked wonderful! It was on a small piece of land that stood in the center of a water moat, reachable only by the little strips of floating land and wooden docks. There were mini lily pads decorating the water here and there, and the water looked incredibly bright and crystal clear. There was a light blue mailbox, and a flag with a little watery teardrop on it.

Arrow's eyes lit up, and she clasped her little hands together fervently. "I-It's so pretty!"

"...Yeah, I thought you might like this place. My great-great-grandpa left it to me in his will, but it's all yours if you want it. It's really better suited for a water type like you, then a fire type like me." Apollo walked up to the mailbox, and tapped it. "This is your mailbox; the Pelipper will deliver mail through this."

He turned to Arrow, and looked at her seriously. "You know... just like the fissure that Caterpie fell into, there have been all sorts of natural disasters lately. It's really a huge pain in the ass, and it's obstructing all sorts of Pokémon from living their daily lives. I want to fix that; to help the Pokémon that are being victimized by such occurrences."

Arrow stood there silently, listening to Apollo go on his tirade about justice. _Are there really that many disasters happening recently? I hadn't noticed... or have I? I don't really remember..._

Finally realizing that Arrow might not quite understand what he's saying (nothing she's done thus has indicated that Arrow is a smart individual), Apollo coughed, slightly embarrassed by his own talking. "...So, uh... Well, you did semi-okay when we were rescuing Caterpie, so... I was wondering if you'd like to form a rescue team with me. With me here, we'll definitely get to the top. What do you think, Arrow?"

"...Um, w-what's a rescue team?" Arrow tilted her head in confusion. Apollo's eyes widened in shock.

"What are you, FIVE? How do you not know these things?!"

"U-Um, I'm twelve... and they don't have books on r-rescue teams where I'm from, I-I think..." Apollo raised an eyebrow in surprise. _**...I chose a bookworm as my partner. And she's younger than me.**_

Shrugging it off, "Well, I'm only fifteen myself, so it's not like age is an issue."

Arrow nods, "O-oh, okay then. D-do we give ourselves a name, or...?"

"Nah, I haven't decided on one yet. Why don't you take a crack at it, kid?" Seeing as he had kind of cornered Arrow into joining, Apollo thought that at least letting her name the team was a fair trade.

"...Um, what about Team Ace? Aces are the strongest in a deck of cards, and could possibly symbolize the toughest, aka the "hero". In French, the "ace" stands for "unit", making it a nice little name for a team, I suppose. Also, aces are usually titles of high-ranking people."

Apollo, momentarily shocked by the amount of talking Arrow did without stumbling over her words, nodded without thinking things through. Arrow visibly brightened at the response she got. She hadn't been made fun of for her in-depth thinking, and that was all that mattered to her.

* * *

**I actually made a very intricate family tree for Apollo, because I find it funny that your partner just happens to own a house for a type that is not theirs. Should get to my dad's scanner...**


	3. Chapter 3

The inside of the house was even better than the outside. There were a few gates that allowed water to flow in from the pond, allowing for a small bath spot in the shape of a crescent moon, and a little water chamber that Arrow assumed was for sleeping. In the back of the room there was a block of concrete separated from the rest of the foundation, slightly elevated. On that concrete were a few decorative lilies, and a low table with a few little mats for your knees. Not to mention a small set of china with flowers painted on them.

_Lovely... is this for tea?_ Arrow smiled, and got into her undergarments (a black undershirt and shorts), seeing as she didn't have any other clothes. She laid them down on the table, and slipped into the water chamber, feeling more at home than she'd felt in a long, long time.

"Maybe this won't be so bad..." Snuggling deeper into the water, Arrow quickly fell asleep.

. . .

Arrow yawned, and slowly opened her eyes, but then nearly ate her own tongue. She had completely forgotten she had been turned into a Pokémon somehow, and nearly had an anxiety attack upon seeing that she was completely submerged in water. Arrow threw herself out of the small fountain-like chamber, and had to take several long breaths to calm down and remember what was going on.

After five minutes of fighting anxiety, Arrow sat down on the floor, and blinked, looking at the raincoat and duck hat on the table.

_...O-oh yes. I turned into a... Psyduck, if I remember correctly? That's... odd... and I don't know where I am..._

Arrow hit her fist into her open palm, "Ah... that reminds me... I formed a rescue team with... Apollo. I-I wonder where he went..."

Arrow quickly threw on her raincoat and tugged her duck hat on tightly before she opened her front door, nearly jumping out of her skin when she saw Apollo lying in a heap a few feet away from her door. She stumbled over to where he was, her nerves already skyrocketing at the mere sight of another being, and peered closely at him. His hair was a nice tangerine-orange, and was pulled back into a spiky ponytail that was clipped to stick above his head. The ponytail was a faded yellow, and very spiky. Apollo was wearing a dark orange, sleeveless, thigh-length dress that had yellow fluff around the collar and the end of it.

_His hair looks... really soft..._ Arrow reached out her hand to poke at it, but quickly moved away when Apollo twitched and jumped up.

"...What the..." Apollo scratched his head, and turned around to face Arrow, "Oh Arceus! I fell asleep?!" He looked away, muttering darkly about how only chumps did shit like that.

_**I can't believe I looked forward to this so much that I wasn't able to sleep at all last night. Fuckin' hell...**_

Sighing, Apollo grinned down at his younger accomplice, who was hiding behind her hands for a reason he couldn't understand. Ignoring that, Apollo moved on towards the only thing he really cared about at the moment.

"Anyway, today is our first day as an official rescue team." Apollo paused, and his mood went down the shitter. "...But, of course, we don't have any job offers yet because we were just made yesterday."

He let out another sigh, and looked at Arrow again, slightly miffed by her silence. Arrow wasn't even looking at him; her gaze was focused on her mailbox up front that had the little flag sticking up, indicating that mail has been delivered. Arrow reached over, and tugged on Apollo's arm, pointing at the mailbox.

"Ah, I nearly forgot!" Apollo went over and took a package out of the mailbox, completely ignoring the fact that it was illegal to sift through other people's mail. _**Not like Arrow's going to do anything about it.**_

He brings the package inside Arrow's new house, subtly hinting for her to follow. Apollo sets it down on the table, and opens it up. "Ah, the Rescue Team Starter Set. The RT council gives one to every rescue team. There's a toolbox... a subscription to Pokemon News... and this standard issue Rescue Team badge! Shit loads of stuff in here. I don't think I need to explain to you what a _toolbox_ or a _newspaper_ is for, do I?"

Arrow twitches, "U-Um... no?"

Apollo nods, "Good. This badge is, obviously, proof that we're a rescue team. It also assists us in missions by emitting a bright yellow light on clients that are inside dungeons, or ourselves when we wish to leave. This is just a standard one... but I feel like decorating it. What about you?"

"U-Um, okay..." Arrow takes a black marker out of one of her many coat pockets and takes the badge out of Apollo's hands. She turns around, and doodles on it for a few moments, and then turns back and holds it out to Apollo, sparkling. "D-Doesn't it look pretty?"

Arrow had doodled little swirly vines that are connected with each other at small, almost unnoticeable points. It did, in fact, look pretty. Apollo wasn't necessarily thrilled about how girly it looked, but he **did** say he wanted it decorated, and she had delivered. _**Well, not like I had a design in mind anyway.**_

Apollo straightened his back, and scratched his neck. "Well, that's it. Normally, we'd receive job offers in the morning... but since we're newly formed, nobody knows about us yet. Can't be helped, I guess. We'll just have to-"

_**FLAP FLAP FLAP**_

Apollo stopped moving, and walked outside to see what was going on, with Arrow softly following behind him. The two of them saw a white-haired woman with large, blue-tipped wings pull a letter out of her mailbag, and place it into Arrow's mail slot. Looking up, the mail-lady saw the two of them, and gave them a short salute of greetings before flying off again, going back to her mail duty.

"...Arrow, could you go get that? I, uh..." Apollo trailed off, staring in the direction of where the Pelipper had flown off, not really believing his eyes.

Arrow nodded, and nervously made her way to the mailbox, glancing back at Apollo one more time before shoving her hand into the box, and yanking out a light blue letter. Apollo steps up behind her, making Arrow freeze up, feeling trapped between him and the mailbox.

"Well? What's it say?" Arrow tried giving it a few tries, but she kept stumbling over her words, being incredibly nervous. _ThislooksreallyimportantbutOHMYARCEUSHE'SRIGHTBEHI NDMEICAN'TBREATHE__**NOOOO!**_

Eventually, Apollo just snatched it from her, and read it himself. "...'_BZZ BZZ_'? Weird shit... Let's see..."

_"Hello, Miss Arrow. I heard a lot about you from Caterpie. Please, help us... blah blah blah... _The stupid fuckin' Magnemites got stuck together in a THUNDER CAVE._ Please help, blah blah, BZZ BZZ BZZ, From Magnemite's Friend." _Apollo was slightly irked by the fact that Caterpie had only talked about Arrow, but was otherwise excited. "These chumps probably could use a hand, what do 'ya think, Arrow?"

He looked down at Arrow, who was still frozen in place, the wheels in her mind sputtering. Apollo rolled his eyes, and moved to her right, shoving the letter in Arrow's face. Arrow took it, read it, and looked up at Apollo, tilting her head slightly.

"W-Well, they _did_ take the time to write us a letter... a-and it sounds like they could use help..." Arrow smiled timidly as Apollo patted her on the head, and led her by the arm to their destination.

"That's the spirit, Arrow!" _**I was starting to think that you're more of a chicken, than a duck.**_

"S-So where are we going...?" Arrow squeaked, surprised by the sudden physical contact. _He'stouchingmehe'stouchingmehe'sTOUCHINGME!_

"Thunder Cave." Arrow froze, which led to her just being dragged through the dirt, because Apollo was having none of that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Mmm. I'm going to start kickin' it into high gear for this story, because there are more... interesting things to come.**

* * *

Two identical Magnemites turned around swiftly at the sound of footsteps approaching, with their short, silver ponytails swishing in the wind. They were met with the sight of a somewhat annoyed Torchic, who was carrying a semi-conscious, red-faced Psyduck tucked under his arm. Once Apollo was roughly five feet away from the duo, he stopped and lightly shook Arrow awake before setting her down on her feet.

"Are you guys the ones who requested our help?" Apollo put his hand on his hip.

One of the Magnemites nodded, "BZZT! YES. MY FRIENDS SHOULD BE ON THE SIXTH FLOOR. PLEASE HELP!"

Arrow winced from the sound of the Magnemite's loud voice, and rubbed her head. _I-I didn't know that somebody could even TALK that loud...! Ow... my ears are still ringing._

Apollo nodded, and led the unwilling Arrow into the dungeon. She might not know where she was exactly, or **why** for that matter, but she _did_ vaguely recall having read a book called "Beginner's guide to Pokémon types", which had been VERY adamant on what types beat the shit out of the others. It was child's play to know that water-types were insanely weak to electric-types. _Oh, what am I going to do if an electric-type burns my (admittedly small) body to a crisp? O-oh dear..._ Arrow shuddered at the very thought.

Luckily, though, the first enemy they encountered was a Poocheyena who was just hanging around the entrance, waiting for suckers to walk on by. Apollo didn't even stop to look at the guy, just viciously dragged his claws across the sap's face and continued walking. Arrow looked back at the bleeding lump of grey, and felt immense guilt at just leaving him there, but there was nothing she could really do about it. She knew that not only would she most likely get attacked for trying to help (Apollo had been crystal clear on the way over that she can NOT just go around trying to talk to random Pokémon), but Apollo would get just a little bit angry with her for doing such.

They continued on, with Apollo doing most of the fighting (he somehow felt a sense of guilt if Arrow attacked another Pokémon), making the two of them gain a few levels, and before long they were already halfway through the dungeon. On the third floor, an Elekid managed to sneak up on Arrow from behind, and struck her with a particularly strong thunder shock (a "critical hit", she realized), making her lose two-thirds of her health. Apollo turned around when he heard the tell-tale sound of Arrow's whimpering, and snapped when he saw that his younger partner was sprawled out on the ground, twitching slightly from the electricity that was still crackling. He moved to fling himself at the Elekid, intending to murder it right then and there in his moment of rage. Apollo remembered his mother always telling him that he was rather hot tempered, and that he shouldn't become a rescuer _**because **_he's easily upset.

However, before Apollo could even do anything, Arrow's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and her body became encased in a dark, violet glow. She stood up, albeit shakily, and stared at the Elekid with a deep gaze as she held up to fingers, and moved them back and forth. The Elekid, sensing the imminent danger to her being, started charging up another electric shock, but found that she couldn't do so. In fact, the Elekid couldn't move at all! Arrow moved forward slowly, but surely, until she was right in front of her attacker. She raised up one arm, and smacked the Elekid as hard as she could, which, to be honest, is not very hard, but the Elekid fainted from the shock. Arrow fell backwards onto her butt, exhausted. Apollo shook himself of his amazement, and immediately came to the Arrow's aide; he grabbed an Oran berry out of the toolbox (that Arrow was responsible for, since she didn't fight much), and forced it down Arrow's throat, nearly making her choke in the process. The Oran berry took effect instantly, and the burns on Arrow's skin healed at an alarming rate, but that was the natural effect of the Oran berry. Arrow's breath returned to normal, and she opened her eyes, only to see Apollo's face a few centimeters away (he had been checking her pulse; can't have your partner die on the first official day).

"E-Eep!" Arrow squeaked, and hid behind her hands again, thoroughly embarrassed. _T-Too close!_

Apollo rolled his eyes, seeing that she was okay, and offered her a helping hand. Arrow took it after a few moments of staring, and the two of them advanced quickly down the floors of the dungeon.

* * *

After many more encounters with electric Pokémon (much to Arrow's displeasure), with Apollo burning every single one into cinders, the two of them finally reached what appeared to be the final floor of the dungeon. They walked along a long corridor, and, after many agonizing minutes of walking, since Arrow had managed to injure both her legs after they ran out of Oran berries, forcing Apollo to carry her (not that she was even heavy), they came across a pair of Magnemites stuck together via their heads.

Apollo raised an eyebrow at the sight before him. "...Well, I guess it's rather lucky that nobody has come along to take advantage of your situation. Let's get you two of here."

Apollo carried all three them like sacks out of the cave with ease. Growing up with his fighting-type brothers and sisters had made Apollo relatively strong; especially so since he was the youngest. When they reached the entrance of the cave, the two Magnemites suddenly split apart; the evil magnetic force having apparently originated from the cave behind them. The two Magnemites were dancing in joy, with their other two friends on the sidelines, clapping enthusiastically.

"OUR BODIES HAVE SEPARATED! BZBZBZZ! LET US REJOICE! BZBZBZZ!" One of the former-attached Magnemites cheered. Arrow cowered behind Apollo, trying to cover her ears in vain.

The other Magnemite cheered as well, "YAY! BZBZBZZ!"

One of the sideline Magnemites laughed mechanically, "BE THANKFUL, YOU TWO."

The four of them all turned to Apollo and Arrow, and bowed. "YOU ARE OUR HERO! THANK YOU, BZBZBZZ!"

Arrow wasn't even able to tell the difference between any of them, so she couldn't tell which one had spoken (neither could Apollo, really), therefore she stayed silent while she gave them a shy nod from behind Apollo. Said Torchic shrugged at them, having cooled down considerably from the pleasure of having completed their first official rescue job.

"No problem. I mean, you'd surely get help when you request for it." The Magnemites all smiled at him simultaneously, and handed him the reward: 500 Poké, a Reviver seed, and a Rawst berry. All four of them bowed a final time, and went along their merry way. Arrow and Apollo followed suit, going back to Arrow's house.

* * *

As they came up to the path that led to Arrow's house, Apollo let out a sigh of relief. "Well, at least our rescue mission went well today. I was a little," He glanced at Arrow, who was looking at the reviver seed like it was the key to the universe, "_concerned_ about how it'd go, but you did alright."

Arrow snapped her head up at Apollo, giving him her full attention. "R-Really?!" _I've never been praised before!_

Apollo shrugged, "Sure, we hit that little bump, but you handled it pretty well, I guess."

Arrow smiled timidly, and nodded. "Th-thanks."

He shrugged, and waved her towards her house, pointing his thumb west. "I'm beat, so I'll be going home now to sleep; so should you, for that matter. We'll pick this back up again tomorrow. Bye."

Arrow watched Apollo become a dot on the horizon, and only went inside once he was completely out of sight. She went inside, placed the toolbox on her small table, pulled out an apple, and chomped on it. Apollo had told her that apples are incredibly filling, and she agreed; all of her previous hunger diminished greatly! _This place is amazing... why would I have never read about this place before? It's like an ideal place to be... well, except for the disasters and fighting. I-I could do without fighting._

Arrow smiled at her own thoughts, and unbuttoned her raincoat slowly, not really focusing on her task. After five minutes, she finally got the thing off, and she washed it a small basin before hanging it to dry on a wire she found under the table, tying said wire to two opposing nails on her walls. Afterwards, Arrow slowly lowered herself into her watery bed, and quickly fell asleep to the calming feeling of the water encasing her body.

* * *

_Arrow felt herself floating in space, unable to open her eyes. She had an odd sense of nostalgia, floating like this. __**Have I been here before?**_

_**...Where exactly is "here"?**_

_**Maybe... this is another "dream"?**_

_She floated like such for several minutes, not hearing or seeing anything or anyone. __**...It's almost like my old place. **__As she floated, she thought she heard a faint voice, but dismissed it as her own imagination at first; however, when she heard it a few more times, she thought that maybe it was actually happening. Arrow turned this way and that in her state, flipping around haphazardly._

_"...H-Hello? I-Is...someone there?" __**Certainly not somebody I know... I think... Is this telepathy?... No, telepathy doesn't exist... or does it? I guess a psychic-type would be capable of it...**_

_The voice kept talking, but Arrow couldn't really distinguish it from the buzzing that was still ringing in her ears from the Magnemites earlier. __**...A-Ah! Could this be a memory? My mind is subconsciously trying to remember the things that I've forgotten?**_

_Arrow tried concentrating on the voice, but only ended up with a headache. __**...I-I can't remember... but I have to! Maybe if I listen just a little harder...**_

_Try as she might, Arrow found that she could no longer hear the voice, as she had already slipped away into darkness._


	5. Chapter 5

Arrow awoke with a jolt, sitting up so that only her eyes and upwards rose out of the water. She narrowed her eyes, and scratched her head. _O-Oh... what was that? I think... did I dream of something important? I don't really remember what it was about... but then again, that's how all dreams go, right? Th-They're just simulations of memories, after all... so since I can't remember much, I wouldn't be able to remember my dreams..._

Arrow looked outside from the gate leading to the pond outside. The sun was slowly rising into the sky. _A-Ah... Apollo might be here soon._

"...Mmm. I-I suppose I can think more about this later..." Arrow got dressed and went outside to meet up with her self-proclaimed partner. When she walked out her front door, she saw that Apollo wasn't there yet.

The sun reflected a beam of light off of the shiny blue mailbox, catching her attention. _M-Maybe there's something in there..?_ She crept closer to it, pried to door open, and peeked inside.

But there was nothing.

"Hm? Arrow!" Arrow jumped, and turned towards Apollo, who had somehow snuck up behind her. "You're up early today. And you even checked the mailbox, huh?...Well? Was there anything inside?"

Arrow hesitated, and shook her head. Apollo frowned for a long, dragged out minute, and sighed in disappointment. "Well, I thought as much. We're only newly formed, so of course nobody would know about us just yet... I guess we'll just have to go to Pokémon Square. The Pelipper Post Office should have jobs listed on the bulletin board."

Arrow stared blankly at him, not really understanding what he was talking about. Luckily, Apollo didn't notice, and he merely tugged on her hat to get her attention. "C'mon, it's this way."

* * *

". . .And the Pelipper Post Office is just straight down this path. We can visit all the shops later, I guess, but we should probably stop there first." Apollo pointed out all the different shops as they went down the street. There were many different pokemon: big, small, bright or dark colored! Arrow felt a little claustrophobic with them all around her, even if the street was pretty wide.

Apparently Arrow had been so lost in her thoughts that she was separated from Apollo, because when she turned to find him, he wasn't there. _...O-Oh no! I-I'm going to get cornered, a-and then they'll beat me down for being too w-weird! W-Where did he go?!_

Arrow paced back and forth on the edge of the street, muttering to herself. She almost screamed when she felt somebody tap on her shoulder, a cold numbness trembling down her spine.

"...Excuse me, are you lost?" A soft, wispy voice caught her attention, and Arrow slowly turned around to look at a girl who was not much taller than her, with crystal blue hair up in swirly hair buns (one of which was being used to hold a white mask with a purple gem on the forehead in place), and wearing a long, elegant white kimono with a reddish-orange obi. The sleeves of the kimono were longer than her arms, and reached her mid-upper thigh, with little ice designs bordering the bottom. Her eyes were a shade of violet that was dark, yet also soft at the same time. Arrow sensed that the girl had a "safe" presence, and calmed down.

"...U-Um, y-yes! I-I was here with my, uh, p-partner, b-but we got s-separated..." Arrow paused, and put her hands on her hat-covered head, "...P-Please don't hurt me!"

The girl blinked slowly, and one corner of her mouth twitched upwards for but a moment. "That is... amusing. Were you, perhaps, going to... meet up somewhere?"

Arrow fidgeted, "W-We were going to the... the, um... P-Post Office?"

"Well, that is not difficult to locate..." The girl raised one arm, pointing east, "Just go down this path... and you will be there in no time."

Arrow clasped her hands together, tearing up a little. "Th-Thank you so much!" And then ran away as fast as she could (which is not very), tripping every couple of steps along the way.

* * *

He had just turned his back to her for a _minute_, and the girl was gone! "Knowing her, she's probably lost... and has stumbled into the worst part of town, getting cornered by a sketchy crew..."

Apollo grumbled to himself as he went back towards Pokémon Square, not watching where he was going, and bumped right into another pokemon, knocking them both towards the ground. _**And now I have a headache. Fucking fantastic.**_ Apollo glared harshly at his "attacker", only to realize that the person in front of him was actually the one he was looking for!

Arrow teared up at the sight of Apollo, and started hiccuping. "S-Sorry!"

Apollo smacked his fist against her head. "Don't get lost again, you dumbass!"

"S-Sorry! Okay...!" She sniffed, and rubbed her eyes. Apollo rolled his eyes, and shoved a bundle of papers into her hands.

"Here, I already got our damn jobs. We're making a few deliveries. First, let's go stop at the bank and make an account."

"O-Oh, where are our jobs at?"

"Thunder Cave."

"...!" Arrow burst back into tears.

* * *

**And the torture of Arrow continues. xD**


	6. Chapter 6

The days went on as such for about a week for Arrow: Wake up, greet Apollo, take up some rescue jobs (there were a lot of item requests), collect rewards, part with Apollo, sleep, and repeat. Until, suddenly, one night...

_Arrow opened her eyes from feeling a familiar floating sensation, and saw that she was floating in a green wonderland, where there was nothing around her._

_**...Again? I'm having this dream again? Could this be some kind of psychological phenomenon...? W-What if something is wrong with me?!**_

_Arrow shuddered, and wrapped herself into a tight ball. After she had fallen silent, she noticed that she could hear that faint voice again. It could have been anything, really, but Arrow somehow knew that the pokemon was talking directly to her._

_**...O-Oh, I can't hear them at all... I hope whatever they're saying isn't important...**_ _Suddenly, the entire dream started breaking apart, with large tremors cracking the walls of her dream._

_**W-What?! C-Could this be... an earthquake?!**__ The moment she thought it, the tremors started getting worse, until the dream had broken apart._

* * *

"Uhh... Hello?" Arrow jolted awake, smacking her head against the confines of her "bed".

"O-Owww...!" She quietly whined, the throbbing seeming more intense for something that was just acquired. _M-Maybe I smacked my head around during the earthquake?_

"Hello? You are Miss Arrow... right?" Arrow peeked out of her pond, and looked around warily, but... there was nobody around.

"...H-Hello?" She whimpered, scared out of her wits.

"Hm?... Oh! You can't see us! How rude of us to surprise a young miss!" A man with brown hair in buns (_A-Are those faces?!)_ popped out of the ground. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Arrow. We are Dugtrio."

_W-We?_ Arrow cringed, looking at the newly formed hole in the middle of her home.

"You see... Last night, during that horrible earthquake, our dear child, Diglett, was attacked and whisked away to the peak of a tall mountain by an uncouth Skarmory! Unfortunately, we could never possibly climb somewhere that high up... so, this is why we are here to ask for your help, Miss Arrow. Please be careful, because that Skarmory is a dangerous ruffian! Farewell!"

Without even waiting for an answer, Dugtrio disappeared, closing the hole back to the way it was before. Arrow was left there, struck dumb by the sudden onslaught of information.

"...W-What was that? Th-There wasn't even a chance to say no..." Arrow paused, and realized something. "...They forgot to tell me where Diglett was taken to. Um... too bad, I-I guess... Time to go..."

Arrow got dressed and went outside to wait for Apollo. During mornings like this, Arrow would get the chance to reflect upon her actions during the mission of the day before. After a good twenty minutes, Apollo finally showed up.

"Mornin'." Arrow jumped, and looked at him.

"...A-Ah... Apollo, w-we got a job request specifically for me-us-just a bit ago." Arrow squeaked, not looking Apollo in the eyes. As for Apollo, his eyes were sparkling childishly, like a kid who just got their favorite candy.

"Really? You?!"

"Yes! We have requested for Miss Arrow's assistance!" Dugtrio popped up right between Arrow and Apollo, headbutting Arrow in the chin. "Our darling Diglett was kidnapped! He was taken to Mt. Steel's summit! Please help us!"

With that, Dugtrio abruptly left again, leaving behind a confused Apollo, and a poor Arrow. Apollo's mouth twisted into a deep frown, peeved off about how the request was made.

_**Did he really just pop up, say whatever he wanted, and leave? Arrow can't turn down people like that!**_

"...C'mon, Arrow, let's go. Mt. Steel is to the north-east. Luckily, our badges instantly transport us to the site of the rescue, so that eliminates time we'd normally spend walking." Apollo grabbed Arrow's arm and marched off.

* * *

The two of them hobbled onto the ninth floor of Mt. Steel. It had been a very long journey to get to the top, and Dugtrio had been absolutely no help (of course). There were numerous Fearow in the mountain, for some reason, and it freaked Arrow out. For some unfathomable reason, their beady eyes, rogue features, and messy hair scared the shit out of her (Arrow _swears_ they were threatening to sacrifice her to their god, which was mildly unsettling; Apollo made a note of this). When they walked onto the platform, Apollo pointed across the room, pointing out that Diglett was lying there, knocked out.

Apollo cupped his hands over his mouth for better volume. "Hey there! Wake up! We came to rescue you!" _**Because your father is a spineless shit lord!**_

Diglett shivered, and stirred awake. "O-Oh? Did Papa call for you?"

"...Yes. Any injuries?" Arrow stood behind Apollo, looking around nervously. _W-Where's the kidnapper-Skarmory?_

Right on cue, a man swooped down, blocking the sight of Diglett. He had red hair, and was covered in metal armor, with the sunlight reflecting off of his metal wings. "You two! What the hell do you think you're doing up here?! Playing hero!?"

Apollo growled, "We're obviously here to rescue Diglett, you shitty bird! Release him!"

"Fuck no! His family has been causing me many nights without sleep because of those earthquakes! Almost every night! It's their fault! We should destr-"

"Y-You're wrong...!" Arrow peeked from behind Apollo, who side-stepped so that she was in the limelight (much to her dismay). "...U-Um...! A single family of Digletts couldn't possibly be the cause of such large-scale earthquakes... it's not possible-"

"You shut your mouth! You don't know anything! Nothing! It's all their fault!" Skarmory drew back one of his arms, and made to swipe Arrow's head off, but Apollo pulled her aside in time, so that she only got nicked on the arm (tearing part of her sleeve).

"Woah! Holy fucking shit, man!" Apollo snarled at the attacker, "You attacked her because she's right?"

Apollo drew in as much air as he could, and spewed out bright orange flames, frying the bird to cinders. Skarmory staggered back a few steps, not liking the new situation in front of him.

"Grr... I'll flee for now, but you haven't seen the last of me!" With that, Skarmory flew off like the huge tool that he is. Apollo waved at Diglett, who had been shaking in fear of the bird.

"Hey! He's gone now. You can come over here, and we'll go."

"Oh, but... I-I'm too scared to move..." Apollo nearly tripped and fell from the statement, but he just merely sighed.

"That's fine, we'll just... come to you. Just sit tight." He walked forward, and just narrowly avoided falling off the cliff, into the abyss. Apollo stared down into the black depths, amazed. "...Shit! I can't even see the bottom of this damn thing... Arrow, how do you think we should do this?"

"BZZ BZZ! We'll take care of this!" Apollo cringed from the semi-familiar volume of the Magnemites. He looked up, and sure enough, it was the two Magnemites they had recently rescued (he was still slightly sore from the fact that Caterpie had only mentioned Arrow). "We caught wind of your job! We can save him from the sky. BZZ!"

They picked Diglett up, having one Magnemite hold his lower half, and the other hold his upper half (the two of them combined made the size of one Diglett), and carried him over to where Apollo and Arrow were.

"Phew... Well, let's get going Arrow." No response, "...Arrow?"

He turned back to Arrow, who was curled into a ball on the ground, gripping her head tightly while whimpering. Apollo noticed the blood coming from her arm, and crouched down to get a better look.

"Arrow, the hell's wrong with you? Now's not the time to huddle." He crushed an oran berry in his hand, and dripped the juice into her cut, which slowly patched itself up until it was just a faint scar, barely noticeable.

"M-My head hurrrts!" Arrow whined, almost pulling her hair off her head. Apollo picked her up, and pressed a button on the rescue badge, which covered the five of them in a bright, yellow light that whisked them away back to base.

* * *

After the heart wrenching reunion between father(s) and son, and after they left, Apollo grunted, shifting Arrow to his other side. She had passed out after Apollo had pressed the button, so he was left to deal with the aftermath all by himself. _**If there were more members, this might not happen... Hm. More members...**_

Apollo glanced up at the remaining duo of Magnemites before him, who fidgeted nervously.

"Bzz! So, we'll be going on home now as well..." Before they could leave, Apollo grabbed one of their arm's.

"Wait! I have something to say to you!" They stopped and stared at him, "...First of all, you two were incredibly helpful. We couldn't have gotten this done without your help. So, I was wondering if you would consider joining our team... Arrow would probably appreciate it as well."

The two of them started murmuring excitedly, pleased at the mere invitation. "Bzz! That sounds marvelous, but..."

"But?" Apollo frowned.

"We would need to be able to live close by, so that we can easily respond to distress calls... If I remember correctly, there's no available land in this vicinity, correct?"

"...Yeah." Apollo grumbled, knowing where this was headed.

"...Too bad. I guess we aren't able to join you. Bzz Bzz! Farewell..." Apollo watched the two of them leave, and heaved a heavy sigh. _**Being a rescue team can't be done by myself after all. We'll have to swing by Wigglytuff's shop tomorrow.**_

With this plan in mind, Apollo put Arrow on her own two feet, and shook her awake. Arrow whined, and sleepily rubbed her eyes. Apollo twitched, _**Nice to know you had a pleasant rest.**_

"Go to bed, Arrow." Apollo pointed in the direction of the door, which Arrow glanced at and followed, stumbling every couple of steps. As Apollo walked off towards his own home, he heard a large _SPLASH!_

He decided not to bother; she'd be fine.


End file.
